by Tony Corden
She finished the sentence grinning and could see her grin reflected on Wisp’s face. She was just about to head out when she had a thought and asked Wisp to hold back for a second. She equipped Merdiven and spoke to it saying, “Merdiven, I would like to have you in my hands today so that I can charge you but I’m worried people will know what we’ve done if they see your description. Are you able to hide what people see and read?”
She received no answer and was about to put Merdiven away when she heard Wisp gasp. She looked at Merdiven, and he still appeared the same but Wisp had her hand over her mouth and had taken a step backwards.
“What? Wisp, What is wrong?”
“It’s Merdiven; it’s changed. It looks like a simple staff, it has no Morningstar, and its description reads: ‘Simple staff of a peasant farmer.’”
Leah chuckled and was thanked Merdiven for changing, and then the two girls headed down to lunch. They had just been served when six bedraggled looking players stumbled into the Inn and sat down. One of them, a stocky dwarf yelled for a beer and then slumped down on the table and could be heard muttering, “I hate ants, I really hate ants, especially I hate bloody Egyptian ants, …”
Wisp couldn't help smiling, so she looked down. Just then the door opened and in walked Thad, Amy, James and Bonehelm. They looked around and saw Wisp and Leah. With a loud whoop, they joined the table grinning like idiots. Thad called for a beer for everyone and then leant over as if to tell a deep secret and said with a huge grin, “We did it, the second group through, fame, money, experience, and loot. The spider's dropped 2-3 claws every time. It was massive. We want to thank you and see if you'd be interested in us selling the location and splitting the profits with you. We promised not to tell, but no one else has found it yet.”
The beers arrived, and he sat back and took a deep drink. They were just about to resume the conversation when the door slammed open, and a loud voice called out, “There you are: bitch! I knew if I followed those jackasses I'd find you. I'm ready this time for your tricks; I challenge you to a duel!”
Several people were looking around to see who he was yelling at. Leah sat back and remembered the banter she learned at Jimmy Loo’s she spoke into the sudden silence, “Not now Jason. I've got a headache.” Thad had been taking a swig of beer and as he burst out laughing it blew out his nostrils and mouth and all over Amy and James who were also laughing.
Jason, unfortunately, became even more incensed and yelled. “If you don't, I'll follow you all day until you leave the town and then I'll kill you and keep doing it until you pay back everything you took and everything you have.” Thad started to rise, but Leah stopped him and slowly stood up. Jason took a step back and said, “You agree, out loud that we're going to duel. No tricks.”
“Ok Jason, I agree to duel. Now can you hurry up I'm in the middle of lunch.”
Jason rushed toward her, not waiting for everyone to get out of the way. When he was three paces away, she equipped the Royal Tree Bow and put an arrow through his right eye. He came to an abrupt stop, and she put another in his left eye. As Jason fell backwards, she dismissed the Bow and stepped forward to grab his sword before it fell. She picked up his money bag and the few other items left behind then sat back down, leant forward and said to the group, “So how much do you think you can sell the information for?”
Everyone just stared at her before busting out with laughter. Then Amy said quietly, “Can I see the bow? Please?”
“Sure! How about we move this up to our room and I'll show you the bow.”
“What bow, you Rangers and your bows.”
“Thad, shut up,” Amy said quietly picking up her drink as Leah and Wisp grabbed their food. “Just shut up, and I'll explain everything. Yes, we Rangers know our bows, and you'll be glad we do.”
Once they were all crowded into the bedroom, Leah took out the bow and handed it, and the quiver, to Amy. Bonehelm read the description and then looked at Leah and said, “So what level are you now? You were twelve three days ago.”
“Twenty-nine!”
James finally understood and turned to Wisp and said, “Both of you?”
Wisp couldn't hold back her grin, and she nodded. Thad was still confused until Wisp reached into her bag and placed a Carson’s Formicary Platinum coin in his hand. He just looked at it and said, “Bloody hell! You got to be bloody kidding me!”
He passed the coin around so the others could see and feel it. Finally, Leah said, “Look, we'd love to stay and chat, but we have a few things to do. What do you think of all getting together tonight and talking over dinner?”
They all agreed, then Leah and Wisp headed to the market. Leah dropped her gear to the leather worker who assured her he would have it fixed within a few hours. She visited the Auction House and was pleased with the way the auctions were progressing. She added a lot of Ant paraphernalia and headed to the horse trader to see what mounts were available for purchase. When she arrived, she saw Wisp was already there looking at a few horses. Together they looked at what was available and the prices. They agreed to come back the following day after doing some research. Leah headed to the General Store and replenished her supplies and bought some simple camping gear. She restocked on potions and then wandered through the market, observing what was available and checking prices. She slowly became aware that someone was following her, but after discovering it was Sheva and Kasim, she promptly ignored them. She made one purchase at the stalls; it was a beautiful statue of a wolf and her cub. It had no characteristics or properties; it was just stunning the way the artist showed the love and protection given by the mother wolf. She had it wrapped and quietly placed it in her bag.
Soon enough it was dinner time, she returned to the Inn and had a quiet drink while waiting for the others to arrive. After the hectic pace of the last few days, she appreciated the downtime. Soon, Wisp and the others joined her, and they spent several hours telling their separate stories and discussing the sale of Orumeck’s Cavern’s position.
As they were finishing Thad said, “We've been talking and just want you to know that if you ever need four friends to help with anything then just call and we’ll come. We’re going ant hunting tomorrow, and with what you've shared we hope to get through to the end. Once that's done we're sort of free, and if it's ok with you, we'll also head toward the mountains. For some reason, we think you'll find something there that’s interesting and exciting. Why don’t we meet tomorrow mid-morning and we’ll escort you several miles down the road just in case those idiots show up again.”
Leah and Wisp agreed, and they left the four friends who had just begun their night’s celebration. Leah and Wisp talked for a few minutes with the plan to meet at eight the following morning. Leah faded away and appeared back in the tower, she enjoyed the slower pace but knew that she needed to do more if she wanted to achieve her dreams. With the Diamond coin, she had enough for nine weeks at Harvard. She also knew that finding new dungeons wasn't likely unless she was fortunate. There was potential in the markets as she had some rare ingredients and items, yet these would eventually run out.
She took the statue and placed it on the sofa in front of her. “Gèng, I bought this for you. It reminded me of the way you watch over me, and I wanted to say thank you.”
For several moments there was silence, and then Gèng said, “I’m not certain what happened, but your gift caused my processors some difficulty, and I sought clarification. I can find no record in the literature of a Personal AI receiving a gift. I’ve also perused the psychology texts, and I surmise that what I feel is a mixture of surprise, appreciation and joy. I would reaffirm that my potential for expansion is increased significantly because of the way you allow me freedom. I thank you for the gift. Where shall I put it?”
“Well, I thought that as you are the controller and creator of this space that it would be appropriate for you to set aside a room or series of rooms, maybe a whole level, which is your space. You can decorate as you wish, change what is
in it, even have some friends over.”
“Thank you, Leah, I will think on this and see if it is viable, and what might be the benefits. Either way, I thank you.”
They talked for a while about the Auction House and what might sell. With the wooden account, Leah couldn't buy, sell or place items for auction at the Auction house from outside Dunyanin. Instead, she gave Gèng explicit directions to put items in her inventory that it thought should go either to auction or for sale; she would apply Gèng’s conclusions whenever she had the opportunity to do so.
Leah took a bathroom break and ordered another archery lesson. She asked Gèng to find a good program, or world, to teach her how to ride a horse. Lady Flèche was pleased with the way Leah was developing and continued to offer advice and small corrections. She appreciated that Leah had brought the Royal Tree Bow and showed Leah some different ways to aim the bow, depending on what angle the target was to the direction she was facing.
On Gèng suggestion, Leah visited a world with a western horse ranch and was trained on how to sit correctly. Gèng had chosen this over a specialised equestrian program because they discussed things like packing the saddle for camping and what feed to bring. Afterwards, Leah felt more confident about buying a horse the next time she was in Dunyanin. After an early lunch, Leah stepped through the portal ready for her trip to the mountains.
In the end, Leah bought a sixteen-hand dapple grey mare and Wisp a fifteen-hand dark bay mare. They also bought all the various bits of tack that were needed. It was just going ten o’clock when the two of them met the four friends to begin their journey. Thad, Amy, Jason and Bonehelm planned to travel for a couple of kilometres to make sure that Jason and company didn’t cause any problems. The first part of the route was on the main trail toward the ocean, and the town of Ticareti, where Leah needed to go to see Yvette. Their route branched off this trail about seven leagues from Carson’s Loop. They were going to take a smaller side trail which cut thirty leagues off the larger trade routes. The trail they would take had been formed by loggers looking for high-value trees in the woodlands far from the main trail. Smaller traders often used the side trail, and it had several campsites that were considered relatively safe. This side trail eventually met up with another main trade route from Ticareti to the Demir Dovuyor Mountains, at a small trading town called Pazar.
Pazar was about the size of Carson’s Loop and few people travelled beyond it into the mountains, it was a safe place for the mountain dwarves to trade with the humans and elves of the East. The trail from Pazar into the mountains followed the major river that collected mountain runoff. The river was called the Hizli and it was swift, and dangerous for travel because of the many rapids along its length. All this information was on the Ranger’s Map that Leah had bought.
The overall trip was sixty-seven leagues, and Leah thought the journey should take just under two weeks as long as there was no trouble. With the late start, they expected to make four leagues before stopping. They could ride faster, but realistically, with stopping to harvest plants and deal with the various creatures that inhabited the woodland, Leah and Wisp thought the plan realistic.
Nothing happened for the first couple of kilometres, and as they had seen no sign of the Jason and his friends, they said goodbye to their friends, mounted their horses and continued down the trail. There were others on the trail; most heading toward Carson’s Loop, and not in the direction Leah and Wisp were travelling. It was one of these travellers who warned them that they had not escaped the attention of Jason and his friends after all. About half an hour after leaving Thad’s group they saw a tall elf on a horse trailing another horse behind him. As they drew near, the elf slowed and nocked an arrow in his bow it as if to defend himself. He kept the arrow pointing away from them. They slowed and called out that they were just travelling the road and didn’t want any trouble.
As he came closer, he said, “If you don’t want trouble then I suggest you find a way around the next section. There are a group of PKers down the road aways, and they are ambushing everyone they think they can beat. My friend was killed, and I just escaped with our mounts. I wish it had been in the other direction as my friend will resurrect where we camped last night.”
Wisp looked at Leah and said, “Probably Jason and his friends. Do you think we can get through or should we go around?”
Leah dismounted and brought the map out so the elf could show them where he had encountered Jason and his group. The woodland on either side of the road was labelled ‘Level 20-40’ so Leah thought they could move around if they were careful. She felt somewhat responsible for the plight the other travellers found themselves in but wasn’t sure what to do about it. The elf introduced himself as ‘Arden_Fleetfoot23’ and said his real name was Ron. His girlfriend was also an elf, and they both were Level 25. He asked if he could join them so he could get back to his girlfriend.
Leah and Wisp looked at one another and when Wisp shrugged Leah said, “Sure. It only makes sense to work together to get around them. Just be aware they might be after us as we’ve kind of killed them a few times in the last few days.”
“Kind of!” said Wisp, “You totally killed them.”
Seeing Ron looking a bit concerned Leah explained that they only responded after being attacked. The horses were programmed to follow behind if their rider was walking and not in conflict, the horse would help if it were trained to defend and attack. Ron had control of his girlfriend’s horse because they were in a group. Otherwise, it would have remained safe in the vicinity of her death for a week before disappearing. Leah set the ‘follow’ function at fifty metres, equipped her armour and set out on foot, she left the trail and headed into the woodland. Wisp and Ron followed behind. Ron offered to lead as he was a Ranger but Wisp said that they were used to Leah leading. Leah suggested that Wisp cover the right side and behind, while Ron looked left and up.
They had gone about 400 metres from the trail when Leah slowed and began slowly inching forward. She had seen a shape moving through the trees ahead of them. Soon they could all see it; it was a Level 32 Striped Boar. It was about the height of a small horse but had heavy muscles and a thick row of spikes along its spine and a pair of tusks longer than Leah’s arms. Leah slowly retreated, and they discussed their options. In the end, they decided to try and sneak around it but would continue to try and find a way beyond Jason and his group. If they somehow came within its aggro range, then they would try and kill it rather than run away. Because they were in different groups, the Experience would be based on damage done.
Leah doubled back for fifty metres and then moved at an angle to get around the boar. Either the boar moved, or the game wasn’t going to allow them through without fighting because the same boar appeared in front of them on the new path. Seeing no other way forward they spread out, Wisp disappearing as she equipped the Cloak of Invisibility. Ron and Leah had their bows out, and Ron said he would get a critical hit so he should shoot first, Leah nodded and moved a bit further away in case the boar charged Ron. When they were about thirty metres from the boar it looked up and began to sniff the air, Ron fired, but the arrow hit the boar in the shoulder and did little more than anger the boar, causing it to charge straight at Ron. An arrow from Wisp, who had moved side-on to the boar, buried itself just behind the front leg. Leah fired two arrows, one hit the neck and the other pierced its snout. It veered in Leah’s direction. She shot a Webspinner Trap and although it caused the boar to stumble and slow down, it didn’t stop the charge.
Leah equipped Merdiven and slammed the Morningstar into the boar’s head and snapped off a tusk. Leah was slammed by the boar’s shoulder and tossed off to the side. Her HP fell below half, and she struggled to breathe. She depressed the Trapdoor ring and lay still. Both Wisp and Rob could still see her, but the Boar was still turning in preparation of a second charge. When it couldn’t find her it looked confused for a few seconds; this was all Wisp needed to get the boar’s attention. She fired several fire bolt
s at the boar which turned its attention to her; she started to run away. The boar followed. Leah swallowed a ‘Minor Health +500HP’ potion and called Wisp to bring the boar back toward her. Wisp dodged in and out of trees and stayed just out of the boar’s reach. As she ran past Leah, Leah brought the Morningstar down on the boar’s head, destroying its right eye and once again drawing its focus. This time the Webspinner trap held and the three of them finished it off. Leah and Wisp shared over ninety-three percent of the experience point and took most of the loot. Ron was amazed they had survived, as was Leah. She took a few deep breaths and kept moving.
They encountered three more boars on the woodland detour. The first was Level 26. Leah shot it before it had detected them. Wisp positioned herself next to Leah and sent out Wave of Fire, Leah used Disc of Death, impaling the boar. All three finished it off. The percentage experience gained was in similar proportions as before. The third and final boars were Levels 34 and Level 35. Altogether the detour too two hours.
They stop for lunch and while they ate Leah quizzed Ron about the ambush that he’d survived. Apparently, Jason and Bullseye were on one side of the road with Shiva and Kasim on the other. Shiva as mage and Bullseye as ranger provided long-range protection for Jason and Kasim, who relied on their swords and their ability to absorb damage. Leah asked Wisp if she felt confident using the Cloak of Invisibility to get close to Shiva and take her out. Leah planned to deal with Bullseye. She would then deal with Jason and Kasim. All Wisp had to do was kill Shiva. Wisp thought it through then nodded. Ron wanted to stay away, so they left him and made their way slowly through the woodland.
They could hear the four laughing and talking, long before they saw them. Leah and Wisp coordinated their attack to start in twenty minutes. Wisp equipped the cloak and scurried across the trail. Leah used all the skills she learnt growing and snuck within twenty metres of Bullseye. She used the Ring of Concealment, as she hadn’t used it before she had only ten seconds of invisibility but this was enough to get within five meters. She used the Trapdoor ring while she waited for the twenty minutes to be up. With just seconds to spare she equipped her bow and put an arrow through the back of his head and used Freeze spell to finish him off. The cool-down on the Ring of Concealment was over, so she took everything Bullseye left behind and used the ring to move away at a tangent. She wanted to be out of the way of whoever came to check why Bullseye had gone silent and grey. Leah had recently had Gèng put a small icon for Wisp in the corner of her vision, and it was still green.